§ 16-59-1. Council on Postsecondary Education established.
(a) There is created a council on postsecondary education, sometimes referred to as the
"council,� which shall be and is constituted a public corporation, empowered to sue
and be sued in its own name, and to exercise all the powers, in addition to those
specifically enumerated in this chapter, usually appertaining to public corporations
entrusted with control of postsecondary educational institutions and functions. Upon
its organization, the council shall be invested with the legal title (in trust for
the state) to all property, real and personal, now owned by and/or under the control
or in custody of the board of regents for education for the use of Rhode Island college,
the community college of Rhode Island and the system of community colleges of Rhode
Island, including all departments, divisions, and branches of these.
(b) The council is empowered to hold and operate the property in trust for the state;
to acquire, hold, and dispose of the property and other like property as deemed necessary
for the execution of its corporate purposes. The council is made successor to all
powers, rights, duties, and privileges formerly belonging to the board of regents
for education pertaining to postsecondary education and the board of governors for
higher education.
(c) The council shall be the employer of record for Rhode Island college and the community
college of Rhode Island and the office of postsecondary education. It shall retain
all authority formerly vested in the board of education regarding the employment of
faculty and staff at Rhode Island college and the community college of Rhode Island.
(d) The council shall be the governing body for the Rhode Island division of higher education
assistance and shall retain all authority formerly vested in the higher education
assistance authority board of directors pursuant to § 16-57-7; however, any debts, liabilities, or obligations of the council that result from
its status as such governing body shall be payable solely from the revenues or assets
of reserve funds set forth and established by the prior Rhode Island higher education
assistance authority and/or the Rhode Island division of higher education assistance
created pursuant to chapter 57 of this title, and not from any assets or property
held by the council on public higher education pursuant to this chapter.
(e) The council on postsecondary education shall be the employer of record for the division
of higher education assistance.
(f) The council on postsecondary education, simultaneous with the transfer of authority
to the university of Rhode Island board of trustees pursuant to § 16-32-2, shall enter into a sublease with the university of Rhode Island board of trustees
for the space the university currently occupies at the Rhode Island nursing education
center in Providence, Rhode Island, such sublease being coterminous with the lease
and incorporating the same terms, conditions and space allocations currently in effect
under the lease, and P.L. 2014, ch. 145, art. 4, § 8, and that certain memorandum of understanding dated January 7, 2017, among the Rhode
Island office of postsecondary commissioner, the university of Rhode Island and Rhode
Island college.
(g) The council is empowered to enter into contracts and agreements with the board of
trustees for the university of Rhode Island and/or the department of administration
related to public higher education employee benefits, including, but not limited to,
retirement benefits, health, dental, vision and life insurance, disability insurance,
workers' compensation, and tuition waivers to maximize the state's and council's purchasing
and investment portfolio and educational opportunities for the benefit of its employees.